MT-2500 Help please..

Hello all.. I am a shadetree mechanic and not a bad one. I have several
vehicles and my relatives plus friends also have vehicles. They are
always asking me to 'fix' theirs when something goes wrong. Luckily
none are very late models so I still can try to work on them. To make
it easy on me and because I had heard really good things about it, I
purchased a used MT2500 - the "red brick" on ebay. To get my feet wet I
tried it out on my 86 Ford van - EEC - IV. Following the directions I
got a 11 code and then a 34 code. NOW, what do I do with it?? I went to
troubleshooter as I thought it would 'troubleshoot' it down to the
component or actual circuit. It didn't appear to do this unless I am
doing something wrong. The Ford Reference Manual was of very little
help (at least in this stage of my learing curve). SOO, without flaming
or taking away from a professional mechanics job I am trying to find
out what I am doing wrong. Can I assume there is no Freeze Frame as it
it not OBD2? Does the Troubleshooter function get it down to a
component? If not how does one successfully use it? Is there a MT2500
Book for Dummies that helps explain further how to utilize this piece
of equipment? Any other thoughts to make using this device more
enjoyable and understandable will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
again...

In article
.com>,
" > wrote:

> Hello all.. I am a shadetree mechanic and not a bad one. I have several
> vehicles and my relatives plus friends also have vehicles. They are
> always asking me to 'fix' theirs when something goes wrong. Luckily
> none are very late models so I still can try to work on them. To make
> it easy on me and because I had heard really good things about it, I
> purchased a used MT2500 - the "red brick" on ebay. To get my feet wet I
> tried it out on my 86 Ford van - EEC - IV. Following the directions I
> got a 11 code and then a 34 code. NOW, what do I do with it?? I went to
> troubleshooter as I thought it would 'troubleshoot' it down to the
> component or actual circuit. It didn't appear to do this unless I am
> doing something wrong. The Ford Reference Manual was of very little
> help (at least in this stage of my learing curve). SOO, without flaming
> or taking away from a professional mechanics job I am trying to find
> out what I am doing wrong. Can I assume there is no Freeze Frame as it
> it not OBD2? Does the Troubleshooter function get it down to a
> component? If not how does one successfully use it? Is there a MT2500
> Book for Dummies that helps explain further how to utilize this piece
> of equipment? Any other thoughts to make using this device more
> enjoyable and understandable will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
> again...

You're in luck...
I used to sell these for a living.

No, there is no freeze frame as there is in OBD2
There is no data stream (O2 volts, MAP frequency, TPS volts, EGR
position, etc.) as there is with GM and ChryCo vehicles. If you
want to view these voltage/frequency values, you have to haul out
the DVOM and start making connections.

There are/is two types of codes;
On demand codes
Memory codes.

On demand codes are generated during the performance of a self
test, there are two types of self test;
Key On Engine Off (KOEO)
Key On Engine Running (KOER)
These two test modes are performed in the service bay (or under
the shade tree in your case), select them from the menu and
follow the screen prompts EXACTLY. The engine must be fully
warmed up for these tests or else you'll generate false codes.

Memory codes are those which set while the vehicle was being
operated, much the same as what the other manufacturers enable.
On an 86 MY vehicle, there probably wasn't a check engine light
associated with any code being set, IIRC, that capability didn't
appear until MY 1989.

Using the troubleshooter;
Select it from the main menu, then scroll to the "code tips"
selection, hit the "Y" button and scroll until you see the code
(34 in your case), hit the "Y" button and follow the tips as
presented.
NOTE; not all trouble codes have trouble shooter tips, so if
there is no "34" listed, there is no tip offered in the
troubleshooter database. IOWs, the service manual would be
sufficient for diagnosis.
The code 11 shown is a pass code for which ever test mode it was
listed under.
The combination of both the code 11 and code 34 could be
explained a couple of ways;
The 11 was set during KOEO and the 34 was set during KOER
The 11 was set during KOEO -or- KOER and the 34 was a memory code.
The 11 was set during KOEO and KOER, the 34 is an old code which
has already been corrected but not cleared from memory.

The MT-2500 make everything available that that genre' of Ford
-had- available, it lacks nothing in ability. Anything different
that might be seen on a GM or ChryCo vehicle when connected is
because that's the way Ford designed their system, not the fault
of the test equipment.

There are other test modes available such as;
Wiggle test
Computed timing
Cylinder balance (depends on engine and model year)
But you should walk before you run...